BEIJING -- Research data on China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine published by Chilean health authorities last week showed very positive, encouraging signs and high vaccine efficacy, said a Chinese health expert Wednesday.

The Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine was 67 percent effective in preventing infection and 80 percent effective in preventing death, the data showed.

The results suggest the vaccine is highly effective in preventing both infection and, more importantly, hospitalization, severe illness and death, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention expert Shao Yiming told a press conference.

The study in Chile involves more than 10 million people, and it is the largest and most complete study to date, said Shao.

"This precious data from such a large-scale national research offers a piece of great news and it tells us that we should get vaccinated as soon as possible to build up herd immunity against the virus," he added.